Ambergris is my first published novel! How exciting!
I actually knew Briony from Bangor University – she ran the Writers Guild, which has unfortunately had to close due to a lack of members. I don’t think we ever actually spoke, but it was nice to work with another familiar face.
Ambergris was the first book that, upon initial readthrough, I couldn’t find any issues. I downloaded it onto my Kindle and thoroughly enjoyed every word. It felt like reading a book that was already published, my impostor syndrome was determined that I wouldn’t do it justice.
I nearly didn’t.
I was determined to create a really nice cover for this book without having to spend a lot of money. I had Canva at my fingertips and an A-level in photography that doesn’t get put to use enough. Briony gave me some covers she already likes that fit within the mystery/thriller genre, and I got to work. On screen, it looked great – it was red and sandy, and the text was shimmering out of the water using a technique I’d just learnt from YouTube. But when I printed a proof copy, it was all blown out.
Okay, try again: adjust the images, darken the colour, choose a thicker font, pick out a stronger illustration for the spine.
Nope. Did not work.
I had to cut my losses – I am not the graphic designer that I thought I was. Luckily, I’m surrounded by and connected with incredibly talented people. Finding the best fit was not difficult.
This was also my first time working with someone who already knew what the publishing industry was like; Briony runs Atomic Bohemian and publishes amazing poetry pamphlets. She herself has a number of poetry publications already, so I was even more honoured that she wanted her debut novel to go through me.
After the last project, this book went relatively smoothly. The text didn’t need much in the way of edits (perks of having a novel written by a PhD student), and we were sticking with trade sizes for both the paperback and the hardcover.
That’s right, this was also my first hardcover project!
I always aim to make each editing special, so Briony and I spent about two hours looking at fonts for the hardcover chapter titles. Catering each font to the character in the chapter is my kind of excitement. We also went hard on characterisation when it came to the marketing. Showing who each character is in a collage without spoiling the plot is a fine line to balance, but we had a blast!
We wanted to differentiate between the two editions easily, so we inverted the colours of the cover. This cover design was all Briony’s idea after my graphic design skills kept flopping when it came to the print, and I brought in Hollowe Studios to help me with the template and colour inversion. Everyone loves the purple cover!
To further make the hardcover special, we made it a limited edition. We didn’t know how well it would perform, and we’re discussing putting it back on sale for the in-person event we’re planning in October.
Initially, the whole project was meant to be funded on Kickstarter – Briony and I curated a list of rewards from both our businesses that can go to people who donate, and wanted to have a VIP event for people to share their own work and ask questions. It was arranged to be on Zoom, and was all good to go…but we didn’t sell any tickets. Whilst it would have been an amazing experience, I know it’s going to work much better in person.
Plus, Briony was actually ill that week, so it was a good thing we cancelled it.
